


Treat Me like the Sea

by landofhorses



Category: The Terror (TV 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, George's never ending quest to find friends, M/M, Period-Typical Homophobia, Rating May Change, it is the summer of george, trapped in the arctic with nothing to do but talk about your feelings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:00:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24884224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/landofhorses/pseuds/landofhorses
Summary: George Hodgson was unsure of the reason that he had elected to take this trip to the arctic, was entirely unsure of the reason that he elected to join the navy at all.
Relationships: Lt George Hodgson/Lt Edward Little
Comments: 5
Kudos: 12





	Treat Me like the Sea

**Author's Note:**

> Story title comes from the song March Into the Sea by Modest Mouse, something which I listened to well over 50 times whilst I wrote this. This is not beta read, so I apologize for any mistakes that you may encounter. Three chapters are planned, and the rating may be upped for possible porn in the final chapter.

George Hodgson was unsure of the reason that he had elected to take this trip to the arctic, was entirely unsure of the reason that he elected to join the navy at all. Yet, here he was, holed up in the dark lower decks of a ship entrenched by ice. He had retreated here under the guise of preforming an inventory check, something which he currently held no plans to do. George could no longer see the point in it, but his fellow Lieutenant Irving was meticulous in his counting of their remaining provisions. Why should he care about the remaining supplies? Captain Crozer didn’t even seem to care about their numbers, such that he was able to care about anything with the state that he was in. Privately, George thought that it was best to not know, it was not like they were liable to grow in number whilst they remained uncounted, and as an added benefit one would be hard pressed to worry about a problem that they did not know existed

At present George was perched on a barrel strategically hidden by a stack of crates, even with the lowly lit lamp he had brought with him a person descending the ladder to the Orlop deck would be unable to find him. He was reading, an activity he found to be a great deal more enjoyable than his naval duties, though not as enjoyable as his musical studies, but needs must. The only sounds here were the light fluttering of him turning the pages of his book, the occasional rat skittering across wood floorboards, and the ever-present groaning of the ice against the ship. It was almost peaceful given the circumstances, which was why George was not to surprised to find himself disturbed by the sounds of somebody descending the rickety ladder. George held still, perhaps if the person didn’t see him, they would be on their way, hopefully sooner rather than later.

“Lieutenant Hodgson are you down here?” a voice called, “Lieutenant Irving told me I would be able to find you down here.”

Blast it! George carefully marked the page at which had left off, before hastily shoving the book behind the barrel that he had been sitting on.

“Yes, Over here!” He called in response and let out a quiet sigh. Lieutenant Little’s heavy footsteps indicated he was fast approaching his position.

“What are you doing hiding back here for Hodgson?” asked Little once he managed to maneuver himself between all the creates and barrels hidden in the hold, stumbling upon the crevice that George had hid himself in. It was no small feet that Lieutenant Little had been able to get to his position, he was considerably more bulky than he was, and would have had some difficulty slipping through the spaces between the storage containers. He had a rather melancholy look on his face, something that he seemingly held perpetually, especially as their situation here had gotten worse. It gave him the air of a kicked dog, George wished to sooth the look off of his face, either with kind words or something else, a little hidden impulse he had long kept trapped within him, and refused to examine. Little was handsome of course, far more handsome than he, Lieutenant Little would not risk himself for George even if they held the same kind of peculiarity. It was not as if he had not tried with women, he was a sailor whether he wanted to be one or not, but one does not form permanent attachments with those who you pay for the pleasure of their service after all. Not that he made a routine of patronizing those who offered their services in this manner, generally only at the behest of his mates when he was younger, and he had always had ever so much trouble making friends. He knew he wouldn’t be able to find the kind of companionship that he sought in the soft arms of a woman, but rather in the rugged arms of a man. He had long since come to terms with his deviancy, but it was awfully lonely. It had been so long since he had even the hope of some sort of relationship of any kind, perhaps this is why he held such strong urges towards the Lieutenant, he had not felt the touch of another in a great deal of time. George rather liked Little, he listened to him with a greater attention than others were wont to, and he was not so taken to long, winded, rants on religion as Irving was prone to.

“I was preforming checks upon our inventory as I had informed Lieutenant Irving Sir.” George lied poorly, considering how he had neither paper nor a writing utensil in his possession. The fact that he was also alone and in relative darkness, was unlikely to help matters, and judging by the rather pointed look Lieutenant Little gave to the poorly hidden book peaking out from behind the barrel that he had hastily clambered off of, he had not been believed. He prepared himself for a dressing down of some kind, but the Lieutenant’s eyes softened a bit and he reached out to give Hodgson a comradely pat on the shoulder, which surprised George and he jumped back.

“None of that now Lieutenant Hodgson, I didn’t climb down here to you into trouble,” He spoke softly, “In truth I came down here seeking your company, and figured that you could not be doing much in the way of work on a Sunday.”

“Me?” George was perplexed, it was rare for anybody to seek out his company. He quickly composed himself, “Yes, well, was Lieutenant Irving not available...?” His sentence trailed off at the end, but the _nor anybody else_ was very much implied.

The Lieutenant looked pained, “I apologize I realize now that I must have interrupted what I assume is your reading,” He gives another pointed look at George’s long since forgotten book laying upon the ground, “now if you don’t mind I will be taking my leave, enjoy the rest of your evening lieutenant.” Little clearly flustered with what he perceived to be rejection, made to make the perilous return trip to the ladder and out of the hold.

George suddenly seized with his own impending loneliness, said far louder then he intended, “ **Stay.** ” He winced at how desperate he sounded, he tried again, “Please don’t leave on my account, I mean, I apologize that my words did not come out as intended.” Lieutenant Little paused in his retreat and turned around looking at him expectantly. Hodgson took a deep breath as he felt the dread drain from his body, but George was unnerved, why had he stopped him? Surely the sheer amount of emotion he felt at the prospect of Lieutenant Little leaving him to his lonesome was more than was normal for one simply lacking in human contact, or friendship. He would not debase Little by pining after anything other than his companionship, he was Hodgson’s superior and it would not be proper. Momentarily, however, he had to put aside emotional turmoil that he felt, because if did not come up with a satisfactory excuse, the Lieutenant would leave once more. He felt a surge of anxiety rise once more at merely the thought of the prospect.

George steeled himself and pressed on, not quite meeting Little’s eyes, “It’s just that generally people don’t trouble themselves for the pleasure of my company.” A dark look passed across the Lieutenants face, one that George could not quite place, but then again, he had never had the knack for reading people.

“Honestly, Lieutenant I don’t find your presence that taxing, and in truth it’s a great deal more bearable then Lieutenant Irving’s. There are only so many conversations one can have on religious theory and painting before you go mad.” Lieutenant Little’s mouth twitched as if he was fighting the urge to smile.

George felt his face being to heat and found himself quite unable to look directly at the Lieutenant. Why was he behaving in this manner, was George a young woman interacting with her very first suitor? No, he was far too old for this kind of nonsense, he needed to get a hold of himself before things got out of hand.

“Please just call me George,” His face one again inflamed, “That is of course, you wouldn’t find that to be too improper. I just assumed that…umm well…that the matter that you wished to speak to me about was of a personal nature?” George was babbling, the urge to turn and run until he couldn’t was rising. The Lieutenant let out a small chuckle at George’s clear, distressing lack of ability to form a comprehendible sentence. Once the laughing stopped his face settled into something resembling a smile, George thought that it suited him quite well.

“No, you’re right George. Nothing work related, this is purely a social call.” He pauses here for a second as if he were deep in thought, “And I would prefer if you used my name as well, we need not be so formal with each other, especially whilst alone.” Edward reaches to pat his shoulder once again; this time George lets it land. The warmth of his touch permeated through all the heavy layers of his uniform, the feeling was quite exquisite, George could not recall anything in his memory that felt as wonderful. Edward kept his hand in place for far longer then what would have been considered proper, but George had moved beyond caring about propriety lost in the felling of the contact they shared as he was. Eventually Edward let his hand drop after giving his shoulder one last firm squeeze, and with a nod he gestured to a stack of long crates besides the barrel George had been sitting on. After getting himself comfortable he pats the empty spot beside him, clearly indicating that he wished for George to sit next to him. Ever so fearful that the invitation would be revoked, he carefully arranged himself so that no part of his person touched Edward’s.

Edward was quiet for a moment, any trace of happiness had long since fled his face, his gaze was focused on seemingly nothing. When he broke his contemplative silence George jumped, “Do you wonder if we will ever get home George?”

Now that was a question, he had never been prone to such negative thinking, as he suspected that Edward was, but even he was able to read the writing on the wall. Edward’s expression was becoming darker by the second, George endeavored to say something encouraging, he could not stand to watch him slip into despair any longer.

“Surely the Captain will lead us out, this is not his first trip to such tough environments, and he has returned before. I can’t see why this trip should be any different, sure things may look bleak now, but we will return, we must.” He hopped that his attempt at cheer did not fall flat, for he was far out of his depth. They all were, he didn’t know how things could possibly get worse.

“Do you really believe that George? Truly? Can you not see how desperate things are right now, it’s not just the horrible bear beast, but our dwindling supplies as well, and…” His sentence choked off at the end, for the emotions he must be feeling were so strong as to prevent him from finishing speaking. George wanted to help, he craved to comfort little in some manner, but his words had failed him and now he was unsure of what to do.

“Edward.” He said softly, and Edward turned to look at him. His brown eyes were glassy with unshed tears, he looked despondent. He wished to reach out and cup his cheek, and perhaps sooth some of the worry he felt away or take it upon himself. Edward worked hard, far harder than anybody else on the ship, he did not deserve to feel the way he did. His hand began to move before he could stop it, and when he attempted to pull it back Edward caught it and pulled it towards him. He had been wrong before, a single pat on his shoulder held no parallel to this, his soft fingers entangled with Edward’s far rougher ones.

“It will be alright, I’m sure of it.” George whispered, he couldn’t even begin to process all the strange new sensations he was being assaulted with, none of his clandestine encounters in back alleys or awkward romp with the occasional friend could match the absolute tenderness he felt at this single touch. Had this been what he was missing? He felt so foolish now for abstaining. 

Edward opened his mouth as if to start speaking but a rather large thump from the overhead deck startled George into pulling his hand back from his grasp, what was he doing? _What was he thinking?_ He had to leave before he could do anything else he might regret, he just needed to clear his head, far too much was happening at once.

He all but leapt from his seat next to Edward in his haste to get away, “I’m sorry Lieutenant I have just remembered that I have promised my presence elsewhere.”

“George…” Edward lifted his hand as if to pull George back down to sit with him.

George pressed on, “I am sorry, but I really must take my leave now, I hope that you have a good evening Lieutenant.” He made the return journey to the ladder out of the hold with far less care then it required, banging he body on several of the crates and barrels on his way out. Not only had he left Edward alone in the darkness of the hold with only his thoughts for company, but also his book, his sole reason for coming down there in the first place.

**Author's Note:**

> WE GOT HAND HOLDING BOYS LETS GO!!!!!!
> 
> Follow me for more George Hodgson content on tumblr @georgehodgsonfucks


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